I've always dreamed of wrting a great novel, hopefully by the time I'm 30 years old, but with work and everything, that dream gets farther and farther out of my reach. So, for the time being I've had to content myself with poetry and shorter works of prose.

I find myself reading in month long cycles. One month I read only the works of Thomas Hardy or Conrad...and then I try to re-read all of Dickens...and then Jane Austen's novels etc...etc. I haven't always followed this pattern, but I may keep it up. Who knows? Every week I submit at least 5 works for publications (preferably on read old-school paper, but I'd settle for electronic publication too!) but I know that people are reading them and saying, "Oh look! It's another story from THAT crazy guy," and then promptly depositing my manuscripts in the trash, but so goes the writing life.